Droids
A droid is a kind of intelligent robot, a mechanical automaton electronically programmed to act, think, and behave in a certain way. Droids facilitate various tasks that organic beings find tedious, difficult, or hazardous. They are typically fashioned in the likeness of their creators or in a utilitarian design that stresses function. Their usefulness makes them a common sight on nearly every inhabited world in the galaxy. They provide assistance, advice, and sometimes even friendship to trillions of sentient beings on a daily basis. A Droid's Life Droids are usually property, bought and sold like any other piece of equipment. Although some droid owners come to think of their droids as friends, the fact remains that droids are programmed to serve whoever is designated as their master. To the vast majority of droids, the concept of droid independence is unthinkable. Without someone to command them, what would they do? Even so, ownership and control are two very different things. Droids must do what they are commanded to do to the best of their ability, but their programming dictates how they accomplish their orders. Ordered to find a replacement part for an X-wing, a droid might commence a systematic search of the repair bay, then the docking facility, then the neighborhood, then the countryside, and so on- all while thinking its actions are perfectly logical. Droids often need very specific instructions to do what their masters command, in a manner meeting their master's expectations. Occasionally, events conspire to lead a droid to independence. These so-called "self-owned" droids are few, but not as rare as many believe. One might hear stories of droids that escape their masters after years of abuse, or of an entire line of droids that manifest violent personalities as the result of a programming glitch. However, independent droids are rarely haywire, rampaging killers. Independent droids often enter into partnerships organic beings, particularly on worlds where a lone droid without a master draws a lot of unwanted attention. Independent droids sometimes even seek each other out, hoping to find strength and security in numbers. Some independent droids are thrust into the unlikely role of hero, helping to defend the galaxy from the depredations of evil as personified by the likes of the Empire and the Yuuzhan Vong. Creating a Droid Hero If you want to play a droid as a hero, you can either play an existing droid from this section or create your own unique droid hero. Droid heroes are assumed either to be "self-owned" or to be owned by another player character (With the approval of both the Gamemaster and the player in question). Even if owned by another member of the party, the Gamemaster should ensure that the owner does not abuse their authority by giving unreasonable or unwanted orders to the other player's droid character. A droid player character should be treated the same as any other player character, and in most cases it is best to give suggestions or advice instead of actual orders. (In fact, most droid heroes have a Heuristic Processor so that they can creatively interpret orders and thus justify acting as they wish.) When you decide to play a droid hero, you'll have to pack out a few details about what type of droid your character will be. This is the equivalent of picking a Species for a non-droid character. Option 1: Playing a Custom Droid You can play a droid of your own design. The only choices you have to make are choosing your degree, size, and accessories, and assigning your Ability Scores. Once you have taken note of these details on your character sheet, continue with Character Generation normally. Determining Ability Scores Droid characters determine their Ability Scores the same way non-droid characters do. However, droids do not have Constitution scores because they are not actually living beings; they only need scores for their five remaining Abilities. You can determine your Ability Scores in one of the following ways: * Rolling: '''Roll 4d6 five times, discarding the lowest die each time. Add up the remaining three dice and assign the result to any one of your five Abilities. * '''Planned Generation: '''All of your Ability Scores start at 8, and you have 21 points to spend to increase them. (Refer to the Planned Generation table in the section Abilities.) * '''Standard Score Package: '''The standard score package for droid heroes is 15, 14, 13, 12, and 10. Assign these five scores to your five Abilities as you see fit. '''Degree Droids are classified by degree, reflecting the types of tasks they typically perform. Generally, 1st-degree droids are medical and analytical droids, 2nd-degree droids are mechanical and technical droids, 3rd-degree droids are protocol and domestic droids, 4th-degree droids are security and battle droids, and 5th-degree droids are labor and utility droids. A droid's function does not have to match it's degree, but this is uncommon. Pick a degree (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th) for your droid. This determines your Ability Score modifiers, as shown in the table below. For example, a 3rd-degree protocol droid increases it's Wisdom and Charisma scores by 2 and reduces it's Strength score by 2. Size You can choose to play a medium or small droid. Droids of other sizes exist, but hey are controlled by the GM. A droid's size determines it's Ability modifiers, it's size bonus to Reflex Defense, it's size bonus on Stealth checks, adjustments to hit points and Damage Threshold, it's Carrying Capacity, and it's cost factor as shown in the table below. Medium: '''Player character droids of medium size have no special modifiers because of their size. They have a Walking Locomotion System and a speed of 12 meters. '''Small: '''Player character droids of small size apply the following Ability Score modifiers: +2 Dexterity, -2 Strength. They have a Tracked Locomotion System and a speed of 8 meters. Small droids gain a +1 size bonus to their Reflex Defense and a +5 size bonus on Stealth checks. However, their lifting and Carrying Capacity limits are three-quarters of those of medium characters. '''Cost Factor: '''A droid's cost factor is used to calculate the cost of the droid and some droid systems. Particularly large droids can be very expensive, but particularly small droids are not any cheaper due to the expenses associated with miniaturization. '''Class and Level You are 1st-level in one heroic class (Noble, Scoundrel, Scout, Solider, or Technician) of your choice. You cannot choose the Jedi or Force Prodigy classes. Systems and Accessories You have a Heuristic Processor and two arm appendages. You may spend up to 1,000 credits on additional locomotion systems, appendages, and accessories as you see fit. You do not get to keep any left over credits, but you still gain the appropriate starting credits according to your Class. Droid Traits All droid characters have certain traits in common as discussed in Droid Traits below. Option 2: Playing a Standard Droid Model If you wish to forego creating your own custom droid, you can always play one of the stock models found later in the chapter. If you use this option, you do not roll for Ability Scores; instead, you automatically have the Ability Scores listed for the selected model of droid. The droid you select must meet the following criteria, and you may modify the stock model as noted here. Size: '''You can only be a small or medium size. '''Processor: '''You cannot have a Remote Processor, so you must install a Basic Processor or Heuristic Processor if the selected model of droid does not normally include one. '''Class and Level: '''The droid you select can have no more than three levels in the Nonheroic class or one level in any Heroic class. If the droid you select has only one or two levels in the Nonheroic class, you may choose to add one level in a Heroic class of your choice; this adds 1,500 credits to your droid's final cost. You begin play with the minimum number of Experience Points necessary for your character level. For example, a 2nd-level Nonheroic/1st-level Scoundrel would begin play with 3,000 XP. '''Final Cost: '''The final cost of your droid, including any necessary adjustments for a processor or adding a level in a Heroic class, cannot exceed 5,000 credits. You may add accessories or replace systems as you see fit as long as your final cost remains within this limit. You do not get to keep any unspent credits, but you still gain the appropriate starting credits according to your Class. '''Traits: '''All droid characters have certain traits in common as discussed in Droid Traits below. Once you have made all necessary adjustments and noted these details on your character sheet, continue with Character Creation normally. Droid Traits Droids share the following basic traits: * '''Abilities: '''Droids are nonliving entities, so they do not have Constitution scores. Droids can increase any two of their five remaining Ability Scores by +1 each at 4th level and every four levels thereafter, just like any other character. These increases represent improved heuristics and algorithms that the droid has developed from experience as well as upgrades to it's components undertaken as part of routine maintenance. Droid Ability Modifiers are determined by their degree and size. A droid can never have an Ability Score less than 1, regardless of modifications. * '''Behavioral Inhibitors: '''Droids (Except 4th-degree droids) cannot intentionally harm a sentient living being or knowingly allow a sentient living being to be harmed. Furthermore, all droids must follow orders given to them by their rightful owners, as long as those orders don't require the droid to harm a sentient living being. Droids with Heuristic Processors can sometimes violate these restrictions by creatively interpreting their behavioral inhibitors. * '''Ion Damage Vulnerability: '''As electronic constructs, droids are vulnerable to damage from Ion Weapons. Generally, Ion Weapons have the same effects on droids that Stun Weapons have on living beings. * '''Maintenance: '''Droids do not sleep, eat, or breath. However, they do need to enter shutdown mode and recharge for 1 hour after 100 hours of operation. If a droid fails to do so, it must make an Endurance check each hour (DC 10, +1 per additional hour after the first) or move -1 persistent step along the Condition Track. This persistent condition can only be removed by the droid recharging for 1 hour. * '''Memory: '''A droid's Trained Skills, Feats, and Talents can be reassigned with the Use Computer skill. A droid hero can use it's own Use Computer skill to perform this reprogramming, but it takes a -5 penalty on it's Skill Check. If a droid is ever subjugated to a complete memory wipe, it becomes a basic model of it's type, losing any levels and abilities gained. * '''Nonliving: '''A droid is immune to poison, disease, radiation, noncorrosive atmospheric hazards, vacuum, mind-affecting effects, stunning effects, and any other effect that only works on living targets. Droids have no connection to the Force and can't gain the Force Sensitivity feat, or learn Force Powers. Droids do not have a Constitution score, so they don't get bonus hit points for having a high Constitution, and they apply their Strength modifier to their Fortitude Defense. Unlike living beings, droids don't "die," but they can be disabled or destroyed. If a droid is reduced to 0 hit points, it is disabled and cannot be reactivated until it is repaired so that it has at least 1 hit point. If the attack that reduced the droid to 0 hit points also exceeds the droid's Damage Threshold, the droid is destroyed instead. A destroyed droid cannot be repaired or salvaged. * '''Repair: '''Droids can regain lost hit points only through the use of the Mechanics skill. A droid can use this Skill to repair itself, but it takes a -5 penalty on it's Skill Check. * '''Shut Down: '''A droid that is shut down can take no actions and is effectively unconscious. Shutting down a willing droid is a Standard Action. Shutting down an unwilling droid is more difficult, requiring you to Grab the droid, and then make a Mechanics check (DC = droid's Will Defense) as a Standard Action while it's grabbed. You cannot shut down an unwilling droid with Locked Access unless it is disabled or otherwise helpless. * '''Skills: '''Droids normally cannot use any Skill untrained except for Acrobatics, Climb, Jump, and Perception. A droid with a Heuristic Processor ignores this limitation. * '''Systems: '''Droids can have many of their characteristics changed by installing or replacing existing systems. * '''Automatic Languages: '''Binary plus one language chosen by the designer (Usually Basic). Droid Systems Unlike characters and creatures, droids are essentially collections of different equipment called systems. A droids' systems can be upgraded, replaced, and modified many times throughout a droid's operational lifetime. A droid system falls into one of four categories: Locomotion, Processors, Appendages, and Accessories. Locomotion All droids begin with a base movement speed determined by their locomotion system. Droids can have more than one locomotion system. Add 500 x the droid's cost factor for the second locomotion system, 1,000 x the droid's cost factor for the third, 2,000 x the droid's cost factor for the fourth, 5,000 x the droid's cost factor for the fifth. '''Restricted Locomotion System The cost of a droid's locomotion system can be reduced by placing limitations on it's use. The two types of restrictions are Exclusive and Limited. A restricted locomotion system costs only one-tenth the normal cost. Appendages The types of appendages a droid has determines how well it is able to touch, hold, lift, carry, push, pull, or place objects. A limb that isn't used for locomotion or balance has one of the following types of appendages: Probe, Instrument, Tool, Claw, or Hand. Droids can use their appendages to make unarmed attacks. The damage dealt by an unarmed attack depends on the droid's size and the type of appendage. The table below lists the base Unarmed damage; remember to apply the droid's Strength modifier to this base damage. A droid can have any number of appendages, but this does not increase the number of actions or attacks the droid can make in a round. Processors A droid can't perform any functions without it's processor (Also known as a Droid Brain), which contains all the basic information the droid needs to move it's appendages, travel from place to place, behave in a certain way, and so on. A droid's Intelligence score reflects the quality of it's processor. Low-intelligence droids tend to specialize in single tasks that require no deductive capability. High-intelligence droids are considerably more versatile- and more expensive. Behavioral Inhibitors Even without a restraining bolt or periodic memory wipes, most droids operate according to a rigid set of guidelines. A droid's core programming- the part of it's memory that can't be wiped- provides it with strict instructions on how to react to common circumstances, most of witch revolve around obedience, safety, ethics, and morality. These instructions are the droid's behavioral inhibitors. The most common restriction coded into a droid's memory is the notion that it can't harm a sentient living being or, through inaction, allow a sentient living being to come to harm. (Fourth Degree droids do not have this restriction.) Droids are under similar strictions not to allow themselves to be harmed unless specifically ordered to do so. Of course, droids are also hardwired to obey the commands of their designated masters. When a master's orders conflict with the droid's behavioral inhibitors, the droid is required to inform it's master immediately. Reprogramming A basic model droid comes with factory-preset Skills and a certain set of Trained Skills, Feats, and sometimes Talents. These factory-presets are embedded in the droid's core programming and cannot be altered, but many droids have one or more Trained Skills left unassigned so that they can easily be programmed for their specific duties. Unassigned Skills, as well as Feats and Talents gained through level advancement can be altered through reprogramming. Reprogramming a droid requires a Use Computer check (DC = droid's Will Defense) and 30 minutes of uninterrupted work. Reprogramming Feats and Talents are more difficult, so you take a -5 penalty on your Use Computer check. Furthermore, Feats and Talents can only be reprogrammed if they are neither a requirement for any of the droid's Prestige Classes nor a prerequisite for any Feat or Talent the droid retains. As always, a droid must meet all prerequisites for any replacement Feats or Talents. Reprogramming requires that the droid be shut down for the duration of the procedure (Or see "Droid Self-Programming" below). To reprogram a Skill, the programmer must be trained in that Skill or purchase a skill package (100 credits). To reprogram a Feat or Talent, the programmer must either have that Feat or Talent, or purchase a feat or talent package (1,000 credits). If the droid's owner is unable to do the reprogramming themselves, they can hire a professional programmer to do the task for them. The standard cost of hiring a programmer is (Droid's Will Defense squared) x 10 credits for a Skill, or 10 times this amount for a Feat or Talent. This cost includes any necessary Skill, Feat, or Talent package. Droid Self-Programming A droid trained in the Use Computer skill may attempt to reprogram itself. However, the droid must have the appropriate Skill, Feat, or Talent package to do so, and it takes a -5 penalty on it's Use Computer skill check. A droid attempting to self-reprogram does not have to be shut down, but it is helpless and unable to take any actions until the attempt is completed. Memory Wipes